O U R M A N D AT E
The Right to Food zineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mission is to promote the
human right to food that is healthy, nutritious, affordable,
and presented with dignity.
Our voices reflect the diversity that is the Downtown Eastside.
Our articles, research, and recipes speak to the DTES
residents, social justice groups, and beyond. We inform
our readers and try to foster a desire to know
more and to become more engaged.
As part of the DTES community, we
strive to be a tool for
community
building.

The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the RTF Zine or the DTES Neighbourhood House.

Join the Zine Team!
Interested in contributing ideas, articles, poems, illustrations, photos, or other artwork to the Right
to Food Zine? As a community partner, we would love to hear what you have to say! Find us at the
Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House at 573 East Hastings. We meet on Wednesdays from
12:30pm to 2. Or get in touch with us at rtfzine@gmail.com
The Right to Food Zine relies on generous donations from the community to produce each issue. If you
like what we are doing and want to show your support, please visit rtfzine.org to donate or get involed!

Letter from the Editor
This issue of the RTF Zine
expands from our usual 20 pages to
28. We’re pleased to add two new
creative pro-fessionals to our
production
team
—
Mitsue
Pierfederici and Anthony Go-ertz
for layout and illustrations. The
results will sizzle your eyeballs.
Instead of a theme for this
issue, we’re all over the map from a
report from Shannon Hecker about
her visit to the St'at'imc Nation
(Lillooet)
area
to
support
After
Indigenous
sovereignty.
reading her story you might be
interested in heading up there for a
first-hand experience. To help DTES
residents and seniors, there’s an actual map locating corner stores that sell
some groceries. Hendrik Beune summarizes events at the first Vancouver
Food Summit in May organized by the
Gordon Neighbourhood House. Rory
Sutherland, on staff at the DTES NH,
explains the concept of Neighbourhood Food Networks, which facilitate

local foods systems, advocacy, and solidarity. Finally, I explore the wretched
conditions of food animals raised in
giant factory farms.
Short pieces by veteran and new contributors include a recipe for homegrown mung beans by Godfrey Tang
(also in Chinese); dm gillis returns
with Charity in the House of Poverty,
a reflection on the “charity industrial
complex”; Anthony Goertz reviews
the Soup for the People program at
Heartwood Café; and our high school
correspondent Roger Wang argues
for society’s moral responsibility to
provide healthy, nutritious food for all
citizens.
We appreciate the financial support
of the DTES NH, the Vancouver
Foundation through the Strathcona
Neighbourhood Small Grants, and
Shannon Hecker/Heartwood Cafe for
fundraising.

Stan Shaffer

RT F Z i n e Ed i to r

2 | RTFZine

Offerings

of gratitude

T

his story was supposed to be a
happy one. It was supposed to
be about how a cool little café
called Heartwood has this “soup
for the people” program where anyone
can come get a healthy, mostly-locally-sourced meal for whatever price works
for them. It's not free per se, because the
organizers feel that the traditional charity
model tends to undermine the dignity of
the people it aims to serve. Their program
actively works against the adage “beggars
can't be choosers” by offering choice and
intentional respect. If you can pay, great.
If not, whatever. Pass on the kindness, if
and when you can. Sounds great, right?
Well, this story is supposed to be happy,
but it's not. That cool little social-justice-oriented café/venue/tinderbox for
revolution is shutting down. The funding has been pulled from the café's landlords/founders/funders, Trinity United
Church. Keeping the café open is no
longer a high enough priority for them to
budget for, and it turns out doing things
ethically isn't as profitable as, say, the
Starbucks that moved in on the corner,
several metres closer to picking up coffee-thirsty foot traffic from the asterisk of
Broadway, Kingsway, and Main.

by

Anthony Goertz

Heartwood's politics are on its sleeve. On
their website they acknowledge their existence on unceded (ungiven, unresolved)
Coast Salish Territory, and a rainbow flag
sticker adorns the front door. They quietly
declare their ethics of inclusion and respect, a rare offering in business. As cliché as it sounds, it's not about profits for
Heartwood, it's about people. Their food
is affordable, healthy, and locally-sourced.
People can rent or borrow the space for
events like concerts and fundraisers. The
Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood
House, publisher of this very zine, has enjoyed a great relationship with Heartwood,
using the space to organize and fundraise.
Heartwood's help and generosity helped
get this useful resource published.
This story isn't a happy one, but it's not
totally sad either. Instead of lamenting the
loss of this chink in the armour of business-as-usual, let this be an offer of gratitude that this little café existed in the first
place. Thanks, Heartwood.
If you're interested in attending their upcoming panel discussion on the state and
future of social justice spaces like theirs,
check their event calendar at www.heart
woodcc.ca or swing by (317 E Broadway)
for a treat.
SUMMer 2016 | 3

Charity in the
house of poverty
by dm gillis

T

here’s a German proverb that’s
stuck with me since my days working in the non-profit sector: Charity sees the need, not the cause.
I worked in the area of frontline legal
advocacy for many years, and my clients
— I called them associates, out of respect
— were mostly vulnerable folk who lived
in extreme poverty, a majority of them reluctantly relying on street level charity in
order to live.
As a witness to this, I came to understand
that their poverty would not exist without,
among other things, a culture that enabled
and nurtured it; a charity industrial complex, if you will. (I promise not to use this
term again.)
We believe that poverty is inevitable in
Canada. As a result, the Religious, the
Business sector and Government, along
with private citizens and secular charities,
have partnered to empower each other in

6 | RTFZine

maintaining a status quo that relies on an
ever increasing number of disadvantaged
Canadians, to support with their charitable
endeavours and dollars.
The Religious, in their endless spasms of
acquisition behaviour, have constructed
enormous and lucrative charitable infrastructures founded on their non-profit status and corporate ambitions, while private
Business takes advantage of tax incentives,
and the branding potential of conspicuous
giving. Governments, for their part, at
all three levels, offer tax deductions and
other inducements, while integrating the
fiscal advantages of soup-lines and food
banks into yearly budgets and financial
forecasting. And the citizenry? Mostly
they sit back and watch, warm in the convenient belief that they’re powerless to do
anything outside of writing a cheque, and
tut-tutting.
This is the culture that enables charity
driven poverty in Canada.

"

The Religious will ask: Would Government do the work of the churches, if
they disappeared? But the real question
is, would church based charity disappear
if the Government provided a liveable
guaranteed minimum income to all of its
citizens who require it? The answer is yes.
In that case, church charity would become
redundant, in all but a very few cases. For
its part, Business would have to find other
sources of cheap, Government subsidised
promotion, and Government would finally
distribute wealth in a just fashion.

Charity sees the need,
not the cause.
German proverb

"

The existence of charity driven poverty
in Canada is shameful. That the homeless, disabled, struggling families and the
working poor are humiliated by it, and
would potentially starve without charity
in this wealthy nation is disgraceful. But it
continues, because of the culture that permits it. Indeed, in Canada, charity dwells
contentedly in the house of poverty.

â&#x2014;&#x20AC; Just look at what the Christy Clark BC PWD
Benefits Diet has done for me. It's a miracle! And
we lose our bus passes in September, so we can get
all of the flab melting exercise we need.
SUMMer 2016 | 7

Vancouver
Neighbourhood
Food Networks
Communities Working Together for the Right to Food

U

by Rory Sutherland, Staff at DTES NH

nder the pressure of globalization, current food systems are
driven towards increased production, efficiency, and profits.
The means to fulfill one of our most basic
human needs, food, is rapidly falling into
the hands of a few massive corporations
that have a financial obligation to ignore
human well-being, except if it happens to
affect the bottom line. This system serves
the individual who can afford to eat and
encourages alienation and lack of concern
for oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neighbour, who cannot. This is
where we might want to ask about basic
human rights and the statesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; responsibility
to protect citizens. In Canada, where 8%
of households experience food insecurity,
our government still refuses to enact a national right to food strategy.
A powerful counter balance to this monster globalized food system and lack of
government protection is at the local level.
While food is being used as a lever of control on a massive scale, the rapidly growing food justice movement has emerged
to challenge. A critical component of this
new movement is the understanding of the

8 | RTFZine

importance of facilitating local solidarity
and building connections between increasingly fragmented communities.
Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure the dominant food system (and
importance of grassroots resistance to
said system) is no surprise to most Zine
readers, but you might not have heard of
an initiative, directed towards building
robust local food systems, that is happening in neighbourhoods across the city:
Vancouver Neighbourhood Food Networks (NFNs). The DTES NH Right to
Food Network is one of 12 NFNs located
throughout Vancouver; each network is
unique, but the idea of utilizing food as a
tool of community building is something
that ties them all together.
NFNs increase food security by building community capacity, fostering strong
relationships between communities and
advocating for the right to food. These
networks nurture grassroots community
engagement and facilitate leadership development. Local knowledge, talents, and
creativity come together to shape a more
just local food system. Neighbours are
supported to connect with one another

around food matters, form new understandings of complex issues and then collectively voice their ideas, concerns and
take action: this is empowering.
Another key aspect of NFN work is
sharing skills, knowledge, experience,
resources and collaborating on events and
projects. Network coordinators meet on
a regular basis to keep each other in the
loop on whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s happening in their neighbourhoods, organize multi-network initiatives, update one another on important
developments, and mentor, encourage
and support one another.
Advocacy plays an important role in
how the NFNs movement facilitates foodbased community development. Each
network advocates for right to food issues
specific to its neighbourhood, but there is
also a powerful unified advocacy voice that
comes forward around issues that affect all
the networks. NFN coordinators pop up
all over the place to get the word out on
the latest issues: radio, television news,
city council meetings.

So what are the specific activities that
NFNs are involved with in their communities? Well, the wonderful work of the
Right to Food Zine is a great example of
something supported by the DTES NH
Right to Food network. Another example
is the DTES Neighbourhood House Community Drop-in meal program, where all
DTES residents are welcome to enjoy a
healthy organic meal, free of refined sugars and chemical flavour enhancers. Other
activities that NFNs are involved in are
local garden projects, school meal programs, community kitchens, pocket markets, neighbourhood food celebrations,
bulk buying programs and much more!
NFNs support extremely diverse programs and initiatives, but the central
question behind the work is never about
numbers of meals provided or pounds of
food distributed; the question is have we
connected with our communities in a way
that supports neighbours to become active participants in the creation of a more
just, sustainable local food system.
To find out more or get involved with
your local NFN, visit www.vancouverfoodnetworks.com

SUMMer 2016 | 9

BEYOND FACTORY FARMING:
IMPROVING LIFE FOR
ANIMALS AND HUMANS

T

by Stan Shaffer

en years ago, Al Gore’s film An
Inconvenient Truth opened
my eyes to the reality of climate
change, which formerly had only
been on the periphery of my vision. About
the same time, I began noticing more and
more articles in newspapers and online
about global warming/climate change. At
the time, I was a sessional college instructor and decided to impose a term essay on
my first year students focusing on this issue. I created a list of topics, about which
I had little knowledge but much curiosity,
and turned them loose. Some students
were hostile to researching and writing
about—for them--this unheard of topic,
while others were curious, indifferent, or
at least docile enough not to offer objections. As I continued with this assignment
for several years, the objections subsided.
Now that we’re inundated almost daily with
information about this dreaded unfolding
event, despite which there are still some
stubborn disbelievers, I sometimes wonder if students from those classes think
back to the assignment and the instructor
who first introduced the topic—a teacher’s
wish to have been meaningful.
I’m reminded of this period because
stories about aspects of animal welfare

10 | RTFZine

are popping up regularly in newspapers
and online. We’re becoming aware that
circuses, zoos, aquariums, trophy hunting and similar institutions are being reproached for their treatment of animals.
As a society, we are reaching a turning
point in how we view and treat non-human animals and are in the midst of a
revolution that is sweeping across North
American business, public policy and
consumer behavior.
Since his 1975 book called Animal Liberation, ethics professor Peter Singer has
been one of the leading thinkers about
animal welfare. Singer asks if given “our
intensive animal production,” can the
market place force changes in our relationship with the animals that we eat for food?
“Intensive animal production” refers to
corporate or factory faming, which dominates North American animal protein food
sources. Singer notes that the pressures of
“unrestrained competition” have almost
eliminated small farmers who practiced
animal husbandry. “Concentrated animal
feeding operations,” or “CAFOs,” as these
Big Agriculture farming corporations are
called, have soared to produce 9 billion
animals today compared to 1.5 billion animals in 1969.

Professor Singer identifies three areas of
“extreme confinement” in factory farms:
crates for veal calves and for pregnant sows,
and battery cages for laying hens.
In the crates, the large animals barely have room to turn around, while the
battery cages for laying hens are worse
because the hens cannot lie down, turn
around, stand up, stretch or groom.
Many of the 70 million hens in the US are
allowed only 48 square inches of space—
about the size of a piece of computer paper--while the standard is supposed to
be 67 square inches. Some die because
of the over-crowding and are discarded,
while the survivors’ environment is controlled so that light, temperature, antibiotics and specialty foods force them into
continuous laying for a year. After that,
they are processed for animal food.
Singer notes that in the European Union
crates for pregnant sows and battery cages for laying hens are illegal, a movement
that began in the United Kingdom and
Sweden. So far, California is the only jurisdiction in North America that prohibits
crates for sows and battery cages for hens.
In both the European Union and California, citizens advanced the more progressive treatment of food animals.
Efforts to persuade McDonald’s to accept
higher standards of animal welfare in North
America began in 1994. After more than a
decade of inaction, in 2012 McDonald’s
recognized citizens’ demands and agreed
to stop purchasing pig meat from producers using sow crates and to look for noncaged sources for their two billion eggs a
year. Since then other fast food and shopping chains have followed McDonald’s
lead including Burger King, Wendy’s,
Safeway and Costco. Nevertheless, most of
the sows and hens will live their brief con-

fined lives indoors in crowded sheds while
waiting for transportation and slaughter.

John Webster, a professor
of veterinary science in
England, asserts that our
treatment of farm animals
is in magnitude and
severity, the single most
severe, systematic example
of man's inhumanity to
other sentient animals.
In addition to the staggering environmental consequences of factory farming
such as water and air pollution, corporate
agriculture also wastes food resources by
the poor conversion rate of grain to food.
Frances Moore Lappe explains that “The
most extreme example is the feeding of
grain to cattle. Of the calories in the feed
that cattle consume, humans receive just
3 percent through beef. US agriculture,
in large part because of its livestock focus,
actually feeds fewer people per acre than
that of India or China” (Alternet, May 24).
As an alternative to factory farming, the
organization World Animal Protection
“works to promote humane livestock and
pasture-based systems, as they often require less grain, fuel and water resources.
These systems also keep the number of
livestock on a farm low enough to reduce
the risk of major pollution and disease
spread. For example on cage-free egg
farms, where smaller flocks of hens forage
outdoors, the manure can be absorbed into
the ground, acting as fertilizer. When tens
of thousands of hens are kept on one farm,
the huge amount of manure produced
SUMMer 2016 | 11

,,

must be transported and stored at a steep
environmental cost. Also, recent research
indicates that caged hen operations have
an increased risk of Salmonella infection.”

Meanwhile, individuals, families and seniors struggling for basic survival in the
DTES and elsewhere know first-hand that
society’s treatment of people on the margins is as degrading and inhumane as its
treatment of food animals. While animal
welfare for the middle class is primarily an
ethics issue, for people living in poverty,
it’s a matter of practicality: choosing their
food is seldom possible because the charity model forces them to eat what they’re
given, which includes large portions of
carbohydrates, sugars, and low-grade
meat protein.

The Good Food Charter program in Ontario values “health and well-being as the
primary goal. Healthy eating contributes to
physical, mental, spiritual, emotional and
cultural well-being and is a cost-effective
form of disease prevention.” For environmental sustainability, they urge protecting
the environment, reducing food waste and
packaging, contributing to composting
programs, and joining community gardens.
Most critically, the RTF Zine endorses
their statement that “Everyone has the
right to access sufficient, affordable,
healthy, safe and culturally appropriate
food with dignity: opportunities for people to take charge of where, when and
how they get food; fair wages that allow
workers to provide for themselves and
their families; safe and respectful work
environments for all in farming and food
businesses; food that is ethically raised,
produced, distributed and sold; protection of farm land for current and future
generations; and protection and growth of
family farming.”
12 | RTFZine

Researching this article has caused me
to reflect on my habitual food purchases.
Like many non-vegetarians, I assume that
eating animal products is necessary for my
body’s daily protein requirements.

,,

Fortunately, a more
nutritious model prevails
at the DTES Neighbourhood
House, which serves primarily vegetarian fare
and occasional salmon.

However, recent nutritional information
suggests that it’s healthier to consume less
animal protein and to substitute a variety
of other protein sources such as grains,
vegetables, and legumes--organic if possible. Nevertheless, changing to a more
vegetarian diet would require more home
cooking and less reliance on easy sources
of prepared food, fast or otherwise. The
respected food journalist Michael Pollan,
who claims the food industry has drawn
society away from the responsibility and
deep pleasure of cooking our own meals,
offers these simple rules: “Eat food. Not
too much. Mostly plants.”
Words to live by.

the

,,

Fo0D MAP

In 2015 and 2016, teams of nutrition, nursing
and ethnography students mapped the grocery
stores and food outlets in the Downtown Eastside, specifically around the Downtown Eastside
Neighbourhood House at 573 East Hastings.
The students' task was threefold:

1)

To locate grocery stores within walking distance of parts
of the neighbourhood with high concentrations of seniors.

2)
3)

To map stores that contained foods that were listed in the
Canada Food guide.
To give some price comparisons among staple items
found in these stores.

The following map shows that there is a plethora of corner stores and
small markets but there is very little in the way of healthy food. Many
of the foods that are available are high priced and pre-packaged.Â The
DTES has the highest concentration of seniors of any neighbourhood
in the city.Â With the exception of a couple of markets near Chinatown
there are very limited options to select and choose food that is nutritious healthy and life sustaining for seniors who have limited mobility.
Food map on pages 14-15.
Further info on 16 & 17.
Illustrated by Anthony Goertz

ere's some more information on the food stores
mapped on pages 14 and 15. They're listed because they offer healthy food at fair prices. ´Basic
staples” means things like bread, eggs, milk, and canned
goods, but not fresh foods like produce or bread. None of
the stores' prices were unfairly high, but ´$$$” means
their goods were a relatively e[pensive, ´$$” means they
were averagely priced, and ´$” meaning notably cheap. In
the wheelchair access column, access is denoted with a yes
or no, but some stores say ´tight,” to indicate that while
the store is wheelchair accessible, the aisles are narrow or
the maneuvrability is somehow otherwise impinged. Some
entries do not have accessibility information. We hope this
map is helpful and we wish you happy eating

Store name (address)

Food type

Cost

Access?

17. Tai Hing Co. Ltd. (239 Keefer)

Frozen Àsh

$$

Yes

18. 'ollar Meat Store (266 E Pender)

Meat

$

1 step

19. Chinatown Supermarket Inc. (810 Union)

Staples, produce, meat

$$

Basic staples

$$

Store name (address)

Food type

Cost

Access?

1. Nester's Market (333 Abbott)

Basic staples, produce

$$$

Yes

2. Save-On-Meats (43 W Hastings)

Meat

$

Yes

3. Bill's Confectionary (200 Carrall)

Basic staples

$$

Tight

4. Community Market (58 E Hastings)

Basic staples

$$

Tight

20. San Lee (nterprises Ltd. (267 Keefer)

Yes

Yes

. 9ancity Corner Store (99 E Hastings)

Basic staples

$$

21. Money Foods (238 E Georgia)

BBQ, meat

$$

6. New Brandiz (100 E Pender)

Basic staples

$$$

Yes

22. Tin Lee Market (582 Powell)

Staples, fruit, meat

$$

. (ast (nd *rocery 'eli (162 E Hastings)

Basic staples

$$

Tight

23. Gar-Lock Foods (469 Powell)

Seafood

$$

Yes

8. Rice World (265 E Pender)

Grain products

$$$

24. Jai Mei Market Ltd. (293 E Georgia)

Basic staples

$$

Steep

9. Sunrise Market (300 Powell)

Basic staples, fruit

$$

Yes

Meat

$$

Yes

10. Food Store (100 E Hastings)

Basic staples, fruit

$

Yes

25. U2 Grocery (502 E Hastings)

Basic staples

$$$

Tight

11. Payless Meats (469 Powell)

Meat, staples

$$

Yes

26. Princess Market (582 Powell)

Basic staples, meat

$$

Tight

12. Shun Hing Grocery (126 Gore)

Basic staples

$$

Yes

27. Quest Food ([change (611 E Hastings)

Staples, meat, produce

13. KGS Convenience Store (239 E Hastings)

Basic staples

$$

Yes

28. Wilder Snail (799 Keefer)

14. Asia Market (595 Gore)

Frozen foods, staples

$$

Yes

15. Chung Shan Co. (437 Gore)

Nuts

$$

Yes

16. 'ollar 9alue Food Store (336 E Hastings)

Basic staples

$$

Yes

16 | RTFZine

Carley Quality Meats Ltd. (295 E Georgia)

Yes

$

Yes

Basic staples, fruit

$$$

Yes

29. Wayne's Grocery (898 Keefer)

Basic staples

$$

Tight

30. Union Food Market (810 Union)

Staples, produce, meat

$$

Yes

SUMMer 2016 | 17

Sorelle Hecker (left) &
Christine Jack of Xwisten
at Ulluilsc (right)

Renewing our obligation
to protect the land
by Shannon Hecker
My daughter Sorelle and I have visited
Ulluilsc (a.k.a. A Voice for the Voiceless Camp) in Xwisten, St'at'imc located
45 minutes west of Lillooet in so called
British Columbia four times since Christine Jack took a stand on the mountain to
prevent any further destruction of salmon
bearing Junction Creek to give a voice to
those who cannot speak for themselves.
March 16th 2016 marked the one year
anniversary of Christine “going home.”
Over 50 people came to feast and celebrate the work that has been done so far
to protect Ulluilsc (pronounced Oollous
– translates to “gathering place” describing the rich history of where the St'at'imc,
Secwempemc and Tsilhqot'in would meet,
gather, hunt, preserve foods and trade).
18 | RTFZine

Christine has given up the security of her
“square house” on the Bridge River Indian Reserve to go back to living off the land
the same way her ancestors have for thousands of years. Christine is a third generation survivor of the residential school
system. All but one of her 11 brothers and
sisters were forcibly removed. Fortunately, Christine’s older sister was taken away
to the mountain and saved from having to
attend residential school. For this reason
Christine has been able to maintain her
connection to the land and culture.
Christine needed to do a lot of work on
healing herself. She has participated in
hundreds of workshops, and she told me
that in return for these wonderful healings
she has offered to return it to back to the
people. Many have suggested she write a

Winter cabin at Ulluilsc

book about the abuse she suffered in residential school, but she prefers to “remain
positive and wants to use her time and
energy to do healing work and focus on
positive changes” within herself and her
community. As a residential school survivor, going back to the land for Christine is
a huge part of her healing.
The tree has been the greatest
teacher for Christine, who says,
“The Grandfathers - the trees - hold
the deepest roots reaching for the
sun asking for only what it needs not
anything more that isn’t necessary.”
She explains, “This is what our
people need; to see the teachings
of life once again.” For this reason
she dedicates the rest of her life
to rebuilding and reoccupying a
St’at’imc village at Ulluilsc.
Currently Christine lives in the winter
cabin built over the fall of 2015 with generous donations and hands on support.
The digging to build Christine’s Eshkin
Pithouse (a round, sub-terranean earthhome lived in prior to colonization) began
on June 10th and once completed and will
be connected to a walipini (a sub-terranean greenhouse used in higher altitudes
to extend the growing season).
Sorelle and I have had the honour and
joy of supporting Christine and her family as they take back what has been stolen
through imposed jurisdiction and laws
with the illegal occupation of the corporation “Canada.”

Indigenous reoccupation of ancestral
homelands is much more than just reoccupying land, it is embracing a way
of life that colonialism is attempting
to extinguish. This way of life can be a
model for us all how to be sustainable
wherever we live and even reverse the
damage that continues to be done to
our mother earth.
When we visit, we work together to assist
with cooking, cleaning, fetching water and
chopping wood. We have learned how to
make a red willow basket, can food, shoot
a bow and witnessed Christine process a
deer last June. It is a blessing for my family
to be a part of this and watch it grow as the
seasons turn.
Bring whatever skills you have to share
and you might be surprised at what you
will learn. People from all four directions,
all ages & skill sets are welcome to come
and participate in the construction of the
new village. Come equipped with a tent
and proper clothing for all the elements in
the mountain because it can get very cold
at night even in summer. Be respectful and
remember this is not a vacation; be prepared to contribute in some way. Please
bring some foods you would like to share.
We are fortunate to experience a lot
of healing through our time shared with
Christine and other supporters helping to
build this village. There are many lessons
we have learned while reconnecting to
the earth. My daughter has been empowSUMMer 2016 | 19

ered more than she ever could be in an
institutionalized classroom. Together we
are learning the meaning of reciprocity.
It is critical for the future generations to
understand the importance of both giving
and receiving.
Our friendship with Christine has also
been very empowering. She is a wonderful
person worth getting to know. Take some
time and make that long trip up the mountain. Throughout the year there will be
different activities to participate in such as
gathering food, hunting, fishing and food
preservation. Ulluilsc is a place for healing
the land and healing one's spirit.
On our way home we stopped in to visit
Hubie at the house of Sutikalh, home of
the Winter Spirit. Many refer to Sutikalh
as a camp, although Hubie reminds us
he has in fact been living there “16 years
now and it is his home.” In 2000, Hubie
took a stand in response to the St'at'imc
Hubert “Hubie” Jim of Mt. Currie at Sutikalh

community's resistance to a proposed
$500,000,000 ski resort at Melvin Creek.
He moved there when he was 37 and tells
us that all the jobs he had throughout his
life have prepared him to live where he is
now. He still has the same pair of pants that
he came up with and says he could fit all
of himself in one pant leg! A healthy lifestyle changed his whole body. Hubie gave
up refined sugars and recently switched
to a gluten free diet. He talks about how
traditionally indigenous peoples did not
eat these things and how eating processed
foods is not good for anyone's health.
Hubie has been successful in defending
these lands and waters from development
although there have been things that have
happened: “harrassment, verbal abuse,
right out fist fights and when they shoot
from the highway.” Hubie recalls hearing
the bullets hitting the branches above his
cabin and tells us “that's why I'm always
smiling – I'm a thorn in the corporate
world's side.”
During our visit we were lucky to sleep
in the guest cabin heated by a wood stove;
there are a few other campers for sleeping
or you can bring your own tent. Be prepared to park on the side of the highway
and pack your stuff in over the foot bridge.
When visitors come they must have respect for themselves, dress properly, especially no sandals. Not being prepared
can be dangerous.
We got up at sunrise and joined Hubie
for some coffee. We shared his daily chore
of climbing up the side of the mountain to
gather fallen logs and brought them down
to the cabin to get chopped for firewood.
Hubie is ready for visitors to come at any
time. He would like some assistance clean-

20 | RTFZine

ing up the forest; he is willing to teach people all the skills necessary to do the work
involved. Hubie says, “Bring the youth.
After all, this work is being done for the future generations.” Hubie reminds us that
Sutikalh is meant to be a “blueprint” for
others to follow, “each place will have its
own needs and wants, [but] it's ALWAYS
about defending our way of life.”
He is asking for some people with building skills and permaculture knowledge to
come and stay for a month or longer so that
the larger projects can be finished at once.
The goal is to have a few greenhouses
producing a surplus of food so
that the village can one day be selfsufficient. We talked a lot about food:
“Food is the land and the land is the
food - The one thing that connects
entire the human family.”

Cayoosh Creek, Sutikalh

This place has many special qualities that
make it a destination for ceremony and
He describes his stand at Sutikalh as “re- prayer, “where people from all four direcclaiming the land, taking it away from the tions can come together in unity.” It seems
corporate world and building community that humans living in cities have become
where everyone is taken care of.” I have disconnected from the earth and each
other. Being able to
a small seed bank and
escape the city even
offered to bring seeds
if only for a brief peon my next visit. Hubie
riod has been tremenpulled out two RubberWe
all
have
dously helpful in remaid containers full of
ducing my own stress
red blood, we
seeds offering all sorts
and allowing me to
of varieties to plant;
all
need
fresh
slow down to reflect
what he needs is peoon my relationships
water, we all
ple to help him do the
and life in general.
work. Grateful to receive many Non-GMO
heirloom seeds to bring
home to plant in my own
garden and in resistance
to the corporate takeover of our food supply
I promised to save seeds
to share with others.

need clean air,
we just have
different skins.

-Hubie

Our trip has renewed my sense of
responsibility to the
land and waters.

SUMMer 2016 | 21

The address is written on the bottom of the foot bridge 5043 Duffy Lake Rd.

We only have one earth and the time
is now to make a paradigm shift of
living sustainably, in harmony with
all beings. Like Hubie says, “we all
have red blood, we all need fresh
water, we all need clean air, we just
have different skins.”
I strongly recommend taking some time
to visit both of these St'at'imc villages and
help to build alternatives for the future. You
must come with an open heart and open
mind. This is decolonization in action.
To get to Sutikalh from Vancouver take
Hwy 99 come past Pemberton and Mt.
Curry drive 4km past Duffy Lake. There
is a foot bridge to the left, if you are going
too fast you will miss it. There are working dogs that protect the settlement at all
times. ***Please do not bring any dogs or
other animals***

22 | RTFZine

For more info: http://sutikalh.blogspot.
ca/ To make a donation please send any
travellers cheque, money order or personal cheque to Sutikalh c/o Hubert Jim PO
Box 20 MT. Currie, B.C. V0N 2K0
To get to Ulluilsc: Drive through Lillooet, BC, turn left onto Moha road and
follow the highway signs that say “Seaton portage, Shalath, Goldbridge” keep
on that road for about 28 km until you
see a stop sign on your right with a street
sign that says Yalakom rd. follow this
road and the little yellow km markers
until you are just past the 50 km mark.
Then drive for one more minute and you
will see the cabin there on your right
hand side! You can’t miss it! Updates
and more info can be found on Facebook at Voice for the Voiceless Camp
https://www.facebook.com/reoccupation
ofjunctioncreek/ E-transfers can be sent to
vov.xwisten@gmail.com
Photos by Shannon Hecker

2016 VANCOUVER FOOD SUMMIT:

GROWING A
MOVEMENT
TOGETHER

O

by Hendrik Beune

n May 19th, the first Vancouver Food Summit took place at
Gordon Neighbourhood House.
As the subtitle “growing a movement together” suggests, the object was to work
together to re-evaluate and improve our
local food systems. It has become common
knowledge that our current agro-industrial food delivery system is very unstable,
wasteful and fallible and therefore reasonable people must come together to change
the system. Even though the negative effects of unfettered global capitalism have
become obvious all over the globe, the
same system continues to spread its influence and global agro-industrial giants like
Monsanto and Bayer are combining their
efforts to take over food production with
genetically modified organisms which
have reduced biodiversity, put small scale
farmers out of business and purposefully
destroyed local food production systems.

International trade agreements
continue to increase the power
of corporations and re-enforce a
system that is extremely fallible

because of its narrow scope and
high energy demand, particularly in transportation and the use
of fertilizers.
The United Nations now unequivocally agrees that a two
degree warming of the planet is
unavoidable due to human activity and that this will lead to
“catastrophic climate change” –
floods, droughts, food shortages
and species extinctions.
The Millennium Ecosystem Reports, prepared by over a thousand scientists globally concluded that “Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions
of the Earth, that its ability to maintain
human well-being is now in question.”
These are some of the topics that came up
as we got to know each other in discussion
after the opening remarks. This, of course
raised the question, “What are we to do?”
and thus re-evaluating our local food systems became the task of the day.
SUMMer 2016 | 23

“Human activity is putting
such a strain on the natural
functions of the Earth, that
its ability to maintain human
well-being is now in question”
Put in this context, it seems only logical
to start (and finish) the day with a discussion of indigenous food sovereignty. Indeed that was the agenda. For most of the
day participants were given the option of
attending one of three sessions with anywhere from thirty to one hundred other
participants and share their knowledge
with the experience of a panel, who presented first. The topics highlighted different perspectives on our current food delivery system and presentations were made
by usually three or four experts in the
field. The discussions were moderated by
an appointed person who had extensive local experience and knowledge of the topic
and the audience participated through a
Q&A session at the end, which occupied
about twenty minutes or one third of the
allotted time. Thus the conference was
well structured and set up for optimum
utilization of time and expertise. Although
I would have liked to have attended all of
the sessions, I had to make choice, but given that the main session, held in the room
with the largest capacity, was also video recorded and could be viewed at a later date,
the choice was not really difficult. Given
that Carol White, ED of the Downtown
Eastside Neighbourhood House, and I attended different sessions most of the day,
we got good coverage.
Remainder of this article gives an overview of the topics that were addressed,
with some of the highlights and intrigues
24 | RTFZine

for consideration. Necessarily this will
have to be brief, but I hope that it will
be sufficient to stimulate some interest,
which you can then further explore on
your own. The complete agenda can be
found on the Gordon Neighbourhood
House website and incidentally, a date was
already scheduled for next year’s conference in the autumn of 2017.
After the plenary session, which everyone attended, I had to make a choice out
of three options: Option one “Indigenous
Food Sovereignty” interested me greatly,
but it was repeated at the end of the day.
Out of the remaining two, I needed to
choose between “Inglorious Produce”
and “Poverty: What Can Food Policy
Do?” I chose the former, “Inglorious Produce,” which addressed the fate of ‘ugly’
food and vegetables, those that fail to meet
the cosmetic standards of grocery stores,
in our wasteful food production system
and methods by which this unnecessary
waste could be mitigated.
The next session, before lunch was
served included “Is Local Food More
Just?”, “Are Rights Based Arguments Effective?” or “Why is The Food Movement
so White?” The last title had the most
intrigue, therefore I chose that one. The
story was about dismantling racism in our
current food system, in which most food
is produced and picked by brown hands.
Based on power and privilege, we must

admit the colour of our produced ‘greens’
is really mostly brown and not white! This
was an eye opening discussion, especially
for us consumers, who, for the most part,
have a totally different relationship with
food and how it is obtained and produced
than the people who actually connect with
the land.
After lunch there were two sessions
which everyone attended. The first one
was by a young social entrepreneur, Amelia Pape, who improved accessibility to
fresh local produce for those who had difficulty obtaining it in Portland Oregon, by
delivering it from a mobile “market-van”
in areas where grocery stores were far
apart. She showed how this fit the corporate purpose of “Whole Foods” who hired
and equipped her, virtually on the spot,
after she had explained the concept during
an interview.
The second was a keynote address by
Diana Bronson, ED of the NGO “Food
Secure Canada”, who spoke about years
of promoting the need for a National
Food Policy to the government of Canada. She explained how values set in a human rights framework should inform this
policy and her hope to enact it through
the “Eat, Think, Vote” campaign, which
would produce massive public pressure
at the grassroots level, as the Environmental Movement had done. Following
the research report “Resetting the Table

(2009-2011)”, she had worked with the
Council of Canadians in Toronto in 2016
and claimed recent success in NewFoundLand and Labrador through the “Food
First Now” campaign.
Following the keynote there were again
three options for the last session of the
day. This was followed by a happy hour
and catered dinner from 4-6 pm. The options for the afternoon were: “What Do
We Do about Food Banks”, “Accessibility: More Than Just a Ramp” and “Indigenous Food Sovereignty: Moving Past
the Welcome.” I was very much set on
attending the last mentioned session and I
was not disappointed! Carol attended the
first mentioned and also came back very
enthusiastically. We invited Aart Schuurman Hess, CEO of the Greater Vancouver Foodbanks, to write an article about
the new purpose and direction that he
envisions for Foodbanks, which includes
job-creation in processing foods to minimize spoilage and promote a more just
economy. We would also like to invite an
article on Indigenous Food Sovereignty,
as there is so much to be said about the
difference between the western concept
of domination and exploitation of the land
for short term ‘profit’, versus the concept
of stewardship and care for the future,
common to most native peoples around
the world. We hope to bring you these articles and more, in the next edition of the
RTF-Zine.
SUMMer 2016 | 25

FOOD SECURITY:

A Moral Responsibility?
by Roger Wang

In an unequal world, some individuals have
more than others. As a child, I grew aware
of the differences in my family's access to
food compared with that of my peers. I realized that some individuals have limited
amounts of nutritious food, while others
have more than enough to spare. In order
to ensure food security for all individuals,
I believe that privileged citizens must remember the moral responsibility they have
in providing for those who cannot care sufficiently for themselves.
In prehistoric days, long before the City
of Vancouver, a family could have been
hunting for a deer, or picking berries off
the abundant bushes in the forests. Food
was available everywhere, as long as the
family followed the seasonal and migration patterns. But currently, those hunter/gatherer opportunities are ancient history. Today we cannot buy food products
without money in our pockets. In order to
have money, we must first trade our labour
to have a salary. If we are not able to work,
we are provided with a welfare income. Is
our welfare system sufficient? Certainly
26 | RTFZine

not enough to buy the food those humans
long ago could have gathered in the wild.
Granted, it is easier for individuals today
to get access to sufficient amounts of food.
No longer do we need to chase animals
for countless hours, but we can buy products just by exchanging an hour of work.
However, the individuals whose luck has
left them in a state of despair do not have
food security. In the past, they could still
be able to, at the minimum, find some
source of sustenance. But today, without
a capability of sustaining long-term employment, these individuals do not have a
reliable access to food.
To deprive the right of humans to have
nutritious food is to deprive an inherent
human freedom. We as human beings
with minds capable of reason, would, in
the absence of institutions and society, be
capable of freely seeking out food.
Privileged individuals have a second
responsibility. Although they may have
the capability to acquire food (and large
amounts of it), they are one of the key
causes of the enormous waste in our food

systems. If privileged people and businesses know that there are others who
struggle to find food, they are then morally obligated to provide for those who
do not yet have access to food security. If
handled correctly, either through donations or social enterprises, transporting
excess food to charities may offer at least
a temporary solution.

In the near future,
our society's need
to ensure food
security is not
merely a result of
a need to improve
the well-being
of individuals,
but of a moral
responsibility to
ensure the right
of humans to
have healthy and
nutritious food.

Of course, the struggle our society faces is not so much a question of food, but
of income. Low-income individuals may
raise their voices in solidarity for increased
welfare rates, but ultimately the issue rests
on opening economic opportunities for
these same individuals and/or guaranteeing a minimum income. In the long run,
if we can raise these low-income citizens
out of poverty, we may finally ensure food
security for all individuals. We can rest assure that everyone will have regained the
right to the freedom of finding and having
nutritious food.

SUMMer 2016 | 27

Ancient Super Food:
Growing Mung Bean
Sprouts in 2l Pop Bottle
by Godfrey Tang
Mungbean sprouts are a common ingredient, especially in Eastern
Asian cuisine. Cooked or raw, they are
low in calories, high in fiber and B vitamins, deliver a boost of vitamins C and K,
and increase immunity. Unlike other vegetables grown in soil, the quality does not
depend on the location.
Green mung bean’s powerful health
punch is inexpensively available in all
seasons at most supermarkets, or you can
easily grow them at home!
You need a 2 liter pop bottle, 120 g
mung beans, a pot, a black plastic bag,
and cloth. Follow these simple 4 steps:

1 Cut the narrow neck of a 2L pop
bottle and punch many holes at the
bottom.
2 Soak the beans overnight till they
start to sprout.
3 Put the sprouted beans in the pop
bottle and wrap a black plastic bag
around it. Cover the top with the
cloth (dry or wet) to keep the beans
from light. Use an empty pot to catch
the water dripping out the bottom.
4 Every 4 to 6 hours wash the sprouts
uniformly with running water, then
cover the sprouts from light as before.
5 Repeat step 4. The sprouts will be
ready in about 4 days. Enjoy and
good health!

The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the RTF Zine or the DTES Neighbourhood House.

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